


Concentration

by hmweasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Artist Cho Chang, Artist Padma Patil, Autistic Cho Chang, Banned Together Bingo, Bisexual Cho Chang, Established Relationship, Nonbinary Cho Chang, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25049953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/hmweasley
Summary: Cho is interrupted from her art by Padma, who wants her to come to dinner.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Padma Patil
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Concentration

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts:  
> QLFC - Write a character that expresses their culture through art.  
> Banned Together Bingo: interracial relationships

Cho moved the calligraphy brush over the paper without noticing the tension she held in her body. That was always how it went when she worked. She wouldn’t notice how tense she was until she came back to reality and realized that her muscles ached. She kept telling herself that she’d stop doing it, but that never happened. The calligraphy captured her attention too much for her to remember anything else, and she needed to make sure each stroke was perfect.

Finishing the character she’d been painting, she leaned back to inspect her work. It wasn’t the best she’d ever done, and she made a list of the imperfections she noticed as she stared at it. That it was better than her first attempts years ago was something easily forgotten.

At Hogwarts, she hadn’t had many chances to practice calligraphy. There wasn’t space for it in her dormitory, and especially in her younger years, she’d been worried that other students would make snide comments if she broke out her calligraphy set. The brush alone was a far cry from the quills most students were used to.

One of the first things she and Padma had done after getting their flat was set up a room for the two of them to practice their art free from disturbance. There were no longer any worries about what other people might say, and that freedom had allowed Cho’s art to flourish over the last couple of years.

It was one of several parts of herself that Cho had finally learned to fully embrace as an adult. Another was that she was non-binary, which had taken her ages to figure out, and being bisexual, which she’d figured out a bit earlier but done her best to ignore.

Yet another was her stims, which had always embarrassed her in childhood, but that she had come to indulge in freely. She’d hardly even noticed pressing her lips against the soft cloth in her hand as she set to work again.

A rapid knock on the door broke her out of her trance-like state. She’d almost forgotten where she was or that there was any kind of reality beyond that moment and her calligraphy.

“Yes?” she called, her voice hoarse from disuse.

How long had she been in the studio? She blinked at the clock, but as she couldn’t remember what time she’d entered, it didn’t do her any good.

The door cracked open to reveal Padma, who pressed her hip into the doorframe. Her arms crossed against her chest almost succeeded in making her look stern, but the small smile on her lips ruined the effect.

“You need to eat supper,” she said.

As if Padma’s words had switched it on, Cho’s stomach growled. She suddenly remembered that she’d come to the studio right after lunch. Had she really been at it for that long without noticing the passage of time? She sighed as she began cleaning her brush. Despite her hunger, putting her calligraphy tools away always left her with a pang of sadness. Everything was simpler when she was in the studio and focused on her art.

She finished cleaning the brush and carefully placed it out to dry. Looking up, she realized that Padma was still in the doorway watching her.

“What?” Cho asked defensively.

She and Padma had been together for a little over two years, but there were still moments when Cho got scared the other girl would judge her for something most of the world found odd. She’d be accepted until suddenly she wasn’t anymore. It would have been the worst possible heartbreak. Being with Padma was the first time Cho felt like she could be her full, genuine self and not be ostracized for it, but that just meant it should have been too good to be true.

Padma shook her head at the question, her smile not leaving her lips.

“Nothing,” she said. “You’re just cute when you concentrate.”

Cho blushed and focused on storing away the brushes she hadn’t gotten around to using. She typically left them out because it was easier that way, but she needed to avoid Padma’s gaze after a comment like that. It still left her a little breathless whenever Padma complimented her. It was nothing like when the guys she’d dated back at Hogwarts had done the same.

While she was busy storing everything away, Padma wandered farther into the room and inspected Cho’s calligraphy up close. Even once Cho no longer had anything to do with her hands, she kept her gaze on her art instead of Padma herself. She was always self-conscious when others looked at her calligraphy because she could clearly see the imperfections in it herself.

“It’s gorgeous,” Padma said.

Cho shook her head.

“Look who’s talking,” she said with a smirk. “No one can match you when it comes to art.”

She nodded towards Padma’s paintings on the other side of the studio. They were painted in the same fashion as Warli paintings except Padma used canvases instead of walls for them. Finished ones hung around the studio and on other walls in their flat, and Cho would maintain any day that they were masterfully done, though she was undoubtedly biased.

Padma snorted and brushed off the comment with a wave of her hand.

“I’m not any better at my art than you are at yours. You have to stop being so hard on yourself, Cho. You know I’d pay a lot of money for one of your pieces.”

Padma, Cho realized, was as biased as she was in the opposite direction, but she didn’t argue with her. It was no use. It was a topic that they would continue to agree to disagree on, just like their disagreement over whether or not coffee was best drunk black or with a touch of milk.

Smiling, Padma held out her hand.

“Come on,” she said. “Supper’s getting cold in the kitchen, and you know that I refuse to eat cold Yorkshire pudding.”

Cho echoed Padma’s smile and let the other woman pull her to her feet. Padma didn’t release her hand once she was standing, choosing instead to tug her toward the kitchen where their dinner was waiting.

There was still a slight pang of regret in Cho’s chest as she left her art behind, but it was safe, she reminded herself. She could always come back to it later.

For the moment, it was enough to listen to Padma chatter about a high up Ministry employee who had come to her shop that day and asked her to design him a pair of dress robes for an event to be held in six months’ time.

Because, if there was any time when Cho felt as close to being content as she did with her calligraphy, it was when she was with Padma.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [Tumblr](http://madetofly.tumblr.com) if you'd like!


End file.
